Prototype 1970 Porsche 914-6 “Murene” by Heuliez
Vehicle Details
- Year: 1970
- Make: Porsche
- Model: 914-6
- VIN: 1300005
- Mileage: 14,379
- Transmission: Manual
- Title Status: Clean
- Color: Two-Tone Orange
- Seller: Nicolas911
- Seller Type: Private
- Location: Strasbourg, France
- Lot #: V-0011627
It is our pleasure to present this one-of-a-kind 1970 Porsche 914-6 prototype with coachwork by Heuliez. At the suggestion of then-employee Jacques Cooper, French firm Brissonneau et Lotz obtained an early production 914-6 months before its official public debut to partake in a Porsche design restyling competition. Suffering a series of financial setbacks early in its development, Cooper managed to broker a deal between Brissonneau and independent designer Henri Heuliez, who readily agreed to take on the project as a means to gain a foothold in the automotive industry. Heuliez’s work progressed from a sketch to a running and driving prototype in just two-and-a-half months. Designed by Cooper, a former Raymond Loewy employee, this coachbuilt 914-6 prototype was the third and last of the wedge-like factory-backed design studies presented that year, the first being an Albrecht von Goertz design by Eurostyle Torino, the other, Tapiro, the work of Giorgetto Giugiaro’s ItalDesign. Debuted to the public in Heuliez’s booth at the 1970 Paris Motor Show, Murene as it became known, later displayed at the Geneva Motor Show in the fall. Murene remained in the private collection of Heuliez for over 40 years until the firm’s closure in 2012 when it was purchased by the current owner. Most recently displayed at the Porsche Museum in 2019 celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the 914 model, this incredibly unique design study is now being offered for auction out of an esteemed collection in Strasbourg, France.
Nearly all the 914’s original Karmann panels were swapped in favor of custom metal coachwork. The design envisioned a wedge-like body style that swooped upward toward the rear. Cooper incorporated gills within the widened B-pillars replacing the 914’s horizontally mounted grille above the engine. Other details include unique badging, fender-mounted mirrors, and custom taillamps. Murene was originally presented in brown metallic over light beige for the 1970 Paris Motor Show (Salon de l’Automobile) and Geneva Motor Show (Salon Auto Genève). Acquired from Brissonneau in 1971, Heuliez refinished Murene in metallic orange over beige and added the car to his personal collection. Murene is said to have been restored by Heuliez in 2012 shortly before the current owner’s acquisition. Evidence of its original brown metallic paintwork can be seen in images provided in the listing gallery. Murene rides on a set of 5-lug 15” Mahle Gas Burner wheels mounted with period-style Vredestein Sprint Classic tires.
The interior presents a unique two-tone black and tan theme. The traditional vinyl-wrapped dashboard is traded for one of leather, and the black and corduroy seats remain in typical 914 fashion with light patina showing throughout. The two-tone door panels are fitted with leather armrests and a triangular instrument cluster houses three analog Porsche dials including temperature gauges, a tachometer, and a speedometer. Other features include a traditional 914 steering wheel, switches for lights, heat, and defrost, as well as a Becker AM radio.
The drivetrain of the original Porsche 914-6 was utilized including its air-cooled 2.0L flat-six engine and 5-speed manual gearbox. The engine and transmission both are said to have been rebuilt while under the care of Heuliez.
Murene along with the Goertz and Giugiaro cars suffered a similar fate. It is said that whether the designs were liked or not, Porsche and Karmann officials decided to abandon the 914-restyling project. Despite this, Henri Heuliez accomplished what he set out to do: gain a foothold in the automotive sector, create a design studio, and begin to build prototype and show cars for European and American carmakers. Jacques Cooper would continue work with Brissonneau and would later design a TGV high-speed train alongside Paul Bracq. Murene has since been displayed at the Porsche Museum during the 50th Anniversary of the 914 in 2019.
The sale will include a collection of historical images, an assortment of records including the official invitation to enter the 1970 Paris Motor Show, a scale model by Jacques Cooper, and a clean French registration in the seller’s name. An important piece of Porsche’s air-cooled history and a possible source of influence for Porsche’s later design work, Murene presents a rare collecting opportunity that is not to be missed.
Auction Results
- Sold for: $159,914
- Auction End: Aug 30, 2021 07:52:31PM UTC
- Number of Bids: 61
Comments (83)
Well done to the seller and buyer both!! A superb piece of Porsche history .
Sold for $159,914
Bid in the amount of $159,914
Bid in the amount of $159,000
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Bid in the amount of $136,750
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Bid in the amount of $135,750
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Bid in the amount of $135,000
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Bid in the amount of $129,000
Bid in the amount of $127,250
Bid in the amount of $127,000
It should be noted, the body of this 914-6 is entirely of metal. The seller states there is no fiberglass within the coachwork.
@Nicolas911 Thx got it
Best
Mike
Bid in the amount of $125,000
Bid in the amount of $101,000
@mmalamut Hi Mike,
Anwered your private message, not sure you received it. Did you ?
Bid in the amount of $95,000
Bid in the amount of $90,000
Bid in the amount of $85,914
Hi
Nicolas911
I have a few questions: I am planning on bidding
I left my contact information in the contact seller box
Please respond
Thx
Mike
Malamut Auto Museum
Bid in the amount of $85,000
Bid in the amount of $82,000
Regarding questions that I had on numbers and years of production. And confusions about 1969 and 1970 years :
The 914-6 has been built by Porsche in 1969. All documents refer to a 1969 manufacture. It's a pre-production model. Chassis 130005. So nothing to do with most numbers you find in standard 914-6.
Engine number is 6191814. It's the original engine coming with the car. We can find it typed on the period French import custom document dated from January 22nd, 1970. The export document from Germany stamped by Porsche dates from January 12th 1970. (all documents are avaialble)
The car was manufactured in 1969. Re-bodied in 1970. Therefore it is considered as a 1970 model. But certificates to request for a number plate was done only in 1971 according to the document I have. And the official sale from B&L to Heuliez was done the 10th of September 1971. So the car was unregistered (certainly used with garage number plate). However they never got to the end, and Heuliez never requested number from the administration. So the real first registration was done in 2012 when the vehicule was sold from Heuliez.
One private owner from new from 2012 to now.
Also I made a mistake previously. I wrote that the car was covered with leather. But it is in fact leatherette and not real leather. Sorry for the mistake.
Bid in the amount of $80,500
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Bid in the amount of $51,000
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The love child of a 944 and a Ford Pinto. Still revolutionary design for that time and an interesting part of 914 history
@9146GUY I confirm that this "chocolate" colored leather is all over the car including both trunks (front and back). The car was untouched since it was stocked by Heuliez. So very original trim.
Porsche heritage center did a few touch up on the paint due to a small dent done during transportation from Strasbourg to Stuttgart. But I don't know what happened exactly.
On this video by the Porsche Channel, you can see the car at 3min00 when it received touch ups
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JHHj17yBSw&ab_channel=Porsche
I know that Heuliez also did a paint repair on the rear trunk area. I could find a picture of the car in storage in the 90s or 00s. We can see the car has been hit by a forklift exactly where the sign 914-6 - VW-Porsche is as the badge itself was damaged at the time. When the car was sold by Heuliez there was no more evidence of this damage so the Heuliez Heritage center took care of it.
During ownership (since 2012), the only major worked done on the car was to send it to a local Porsche specialist for an engine reseal. It was done in April 2013 for an amount of 4423€ (roughly 5000$). It was mainly to have a leak free car and replace most rubber stuff, as it didn't run so much for so many years, also chain tensioners, black and brown sliders, rubber oil hoses, propshafts covers and so on. All the flat 6 standards. After that, only routine maintenance as it works well.
Thanks for the response. So both of the trunks are leather lined and was done when the car was done.
@9146GUY I guess, if I understood well your question, that it is leather. The trunk area is covered with leather. Check the photo of the trunk with its carpet and you will see the corresponding colors. Next to that the beige color is the sign of the first paint as the car was displayed at the salon de Paris.
What is the coating on the inner fenders in the front trunk. It looks like a dark grey sealant of some sort.
Wild car. Truly, one of a kind. Love the way the front hood is held up by a cleaner bottle. (video portion). Good luck with the auction.
Bid in the amount of $25,000
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To give a bit more details about the history of the car itself :
1969 :
It's the 5th, 914-6 manufactured so a pre-production model. It was used by the factory as a test mule. It was painted green as we can see under the carpets. Porsche used it for 11.000kms for various undocumented tests.
It was sold by Porsche to Brissoneau and Lotz. The company was purchased by Renault and it was impossible for them to build a car from a foreign manufacturer anymore.
B&L sold it to Heuliez. We have a copy of the original invoice from one company to the other with cover letter, certificate of sale, custom clearance, custom reception, custom bill and so on in order to get licence plate.
The car was then exhibited at the Salon de Paris in the beige color, that we can still see in many places as you can see on the front trunk pictures.
It was then repainted in the current orange metalic for the Salon de Genève.
It was then placed into storage by heuliez till 2012.
It was slightly damaged by a fork lift during its storagesome period pictures show the damage directly on the "914-6 VW Porsche" sign. It was touched up by Heuliez before sale.
We have done some work to make the car fully driveable and reliable after so many years stopped. It is now regularely maintained to keep it on the road by our mechanics.
2019 : The car was exhibited at the Porsche museum for the Porsche 914 Jubilee. The car was being prepared and touched up by the Porsche heritage center at the museum prior to the exhibition.
These are the big days of the car which is very unique and with a big history. It's fully driveable and road legal.
Jacques Cooper, the designer of the car, gave us an original painting of the car and a wood scale model that was used for the original design of the car, it belongs to the car and will be given away. You can see them in the picutres. We have also the original invitation from Heuliez to invite someone (a journalist) to visit the car at the Salon de Paris. There is the original invitation along with Heuliez cover letter.
The spare tire at the front was manufactured in 1966, it is written AVG on it which means that it was installed on the front left of the car (AVant Gauche). It is therefore certainly one of the original tires for this car.
The car is fully rust free. Everything works perfeclty. It is not perfect but very original and was preserved as much as we could.
Hello to everyone. I am the seller of the car. If you have any specific questions do not hesitate to ask, the car has a long interesting history that's quite long to tell.
If you want to inspect the car, feel free to ask as well.
Very interesting !!!!!!!!!!
Bid in the amount of $2,500
I love the original brown metallic over light beige as shown at the 1970 Paris Motor Show (Salon de l’Automobile) and the Geneva Motor Show (Salon Auto Genève). The girl showing the car was not bad either. ;)
Bid in the amount of $2,222
Bid in the amount of $1,914
Is this the first Tesla?
Bid in the amount of $251
That too is part of the history of Porsche, as is the case with many other manufacturers with a long tradition!
Historical and hysterical